In life, we all have our defined path to walk. Everyone on this planet is looking for ways to make their life easier. In a way, we all wish to walk the path of happiness. For each of us, the meaning of happiness might be different. However, the emotion or the feeling remains the same.
Happiness is an intense state characterized by sensations of delight, fulfillment, joy, and well-being. While happiness has many definitions but for each person, it's a unique experience in life. It is usually described as positive feelings and an experience of satisfaction.
Define Happiness
Happiness is a state of mind portrayed by sentiments of joy, contentment, and a sense of fulfillment in life. While happiness has diverse definitions, it is generally a state of well-being.
While Buddha defines it as,
"There is no path to happiness. Happiness is the path"
Why do you need happiness in life?
Happiness is essential because it has many emotional and physical advantages. A person needs to feel happy or life satisfaction to find purpose in life. Happy people are those who know themselves the best.
Happiness has positive impacts on a person's mind. In positive psychology, happiness and life satisfaction remain the main focuses of well-being. Positive psychology is one of the recent emerging branches of psychology. It is an area of psychology that usually focuses on how to enhance the well-being of human beings. It usually centers on the idea of healthy living or living a happier life.
Do You Make These Common Happiness Mistakes?
It's an open secret that your state of happiness can get affected by certain situations. It's always a clever idea to keep the environment around you positive and always keep the inner calm.
Here are some things that you avoid keeping your vibes positive.
5 Things that hinders your pursuit of happiness
Overthinking
It is a state of obsessing with or without reason on something. It can cause unnecessary stress that may cause multiple physical and mental health issues. Overthinking can cause problems like insomnia (lack of sleep), a sense of uneasiness, digestion problems, etc. You can resolve this issue with a change in inhabits.
Try mediation or yoga. Consult a professional for help if overthinking causes any form of physical or mental uneasiness.
Keeping Expectations:
It might be the most anticipated item on the list. Here is how expectation leads to sadness. Keeping any expectations may lead to disappointments as well as heartbreak.
It will, in turn, affect a person's mood and overall well-being.
It is better not to expect anything in return and keep living your life. Never burden yourself with expectations of any kind. Google X's chief business officer explains the happiness equation.
Avoiding problems and Procrastinating
It's the root cause of all worries and stress. All problems have their solution. Some might be as simple as screwing a light bulb into a socket. Issues shouldn't be left unresolved for extended periods. Instead of facing their problems or fears, some people prefer to ignore them completely. It is sometimes called the Ostrich Effect.
What is the Ostrich Effect?
It is the behavior where the people avoid present issues and put their head in the sand(metaphor) like an Ostriches have this (fictional behavior) habit of sticking their head in beneath the sand when they sense danger. It is an analogy that explains people's general response to fear or uncertainty.
It's a behavior where a person is trying to avoid present problems by ignoring them.
The longer you wait, the longer your misery is going to last.
It's a tendency that most people have when they are under pressure, or they are too lazy to act.
Most people suffer because they avoid their present problems and delay acting on them until it's too late to do anything.
Solve Issues at present don't leave anything for the future. In this way, you don't have these issues left that might bother you in the future.
The article discusses this in Length.
Toxic relationship
Being in a bad or unhealthy relationship with a friend or significant other has toxic mental health consequences and leads to various physical and mental health issues.
Peace of mind is an essential part of our mental health and, it directly affects our happiness. Some research studies have shown that satisfying relationships are associated with improved health, eternal happiness, among other things.
Bad lifestyle choices
We make life choices that sometimes come back to haunt us. Some directly affect our physical or mental health issues like eating habits and substance abuse. Others are more subtle such as ignoring mental health concerns and lack of physical activity.
So, either directly or indirectly, lifestyle choices can affect your mood or happiness in general.
Some example of bad lifestyle choices
Drinking
Smoking
Excess consumption of Fast Food
Lack of physical activity
Living in Stress or Anxiety
Substance Abuse problem
Insufficient Sleep
improper Hygiene
Ignoring Mental Health issues such as Anxiety.
These things will bring happiness to your life
Get a pet
Your furry friend can bring an immense amount of joy that is irreplaceable. It doesn't matter if you're a cat person or a dog person. Pets are simply a wonderful way of getting the heart-warming feeling. If you like having this warm and fuzzy feeling then, you should adopt an animal or get a pet for yourself.
Note that it's not easy to have a pet around it's almost as demanding as raising a child but, it's proven to be fruitful for your well-being.
Choose Healthy Habits
It might not be a well-known fact but food habits and affect your mood.
You can improve your health and mood in that case you can try some activities. People either skip meals or avoid exercising.
Exercise
According to this article by Harvard medical school
Exercise can reduce stress and promote happy hormones in the body.
It can help you reduce all the stress and negativity. You can channel your negative energy into something healthy and productive.
Avoid skipping meals
Don't avoid any meal, especially breakfast. Skipping meals can have negative results on the body. If you have a habit of skipping your meals regularly, then that's an issue. It can exert tremendous physical and mental stress.
Reading It is an effective way to relax your mind and distract it from the sorrows of life. Most people find reading enlightening. Some find people think of it as a medium to escape reality momentarily. And get lost in the realm of magic, sci-fi, and the world of espionage, etc. Reading is a healthy habit to pursue if wish to pleasure and reenergizes your brain cells.
Appreciate Life
Always be grateful for what you have in life. Always be thankful for things you have not the things you lost. Cherish your life over other things. You can only appreciate life completely if you know yourself well. There is a purpose to your life it's essential to know your purpose.
Find your purpose and First, Know Yourself. It may be one of the most challenging things that you would do in your life.
It might be strange to hear but, you know the least about yourself. It's tricky to observe yourself from a distance. Try asking a close friend or significant others to describe you as if they were describing someone else to you.
There is a lot that you can learn once you know yourself such as, vice and virtue. That you may know not know about earlier. It will help you make realistic discussions and assist you in keeping realistic expectations.
Expectations lead to disappointments.
And disappointments lead to unhappiness which's an open secret.
Treat yourself in a way you would treat someone you love
We got the inspiration for this one from Jordan B Peterson's book. Jordan B Peterson is a Canadian professor of psychology and a clinical psychologist. His book called 12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos details many such rules for life. You read his book for complete information.
Maintain a journal
Keeping a journal helps your write down your goals and dreams. Writing down our objectives allows us to articulate our thoughts clearly.
Make it a habit to update your journal every day.
You can install apps that act as a journal as well as a mood tracker and, these apps can help you keep track of your mood. You can analyze this data later to improve your daily routine as well as enhance your regular mood.
Prioritize your Sleep
It's no hidden secret that sleep plays a vital role in physical and mental health. Lack of sleep can cause depression, anxiety disorder, ADHA, etc. There is a strong relationship between sleep and happiness. One must make sure that they are getting enough sleep. Sleeping assists your body to work in its most optimal capacity.
Make Sleep Work for You
According to CDC's website, here is how many hours of sleep you need to get daily.
The heart will be healthier if you get between 7 and 9 hours of sleep each night. When your body is sleep-deprived, it experiences a state of stress.
It causes the body to go through high blood pressure and produce stress hormones.
Weekly Activities to try:
Go out in nature (Nature walk)
Work out
Consider therapy
Exercise your Smiling (Try smiling as much as possible except for funerals, try that at your own risk)
Go!! Travel new destinations (Any place new)
Practice Yoga n Mediation (Find your Zen)
Try deep breaths exercise.
Conclusion
Happiness means feeling blissful or joyful.
One must never shy away from seeking advice from a medical professional if one faces any issues. These issues can arise from both physical and mental disorders. Things like anxiety and depression are manageable if you reach out to a certified medical professional.
Being healthy is the first step towards a happier life. It is best to create a social and personal ecosystem that helps you grow as an individual. These include subtle everyday things like maintaining a journal, spending time with friends or family, etc.
In the end, it's up to you what you wish to do with your life. You are the writer and actor of your own story. You can shape your own reality if you desire to be happy in life and work towards it. Nothing will stop you from achieving it.